Love Encyclopedia For The Gays (boyxboy, girlxgirl)

1 - Arturo, Art and Me

I first saw Art on the first day of senior year. Not the entirety of him, just his broad back draped with a vintage leather jacket. My intuition told me that someone that tall and kept that shaggy of a wolf cut can only be extremely hot. 

As if fated, he walked into my first class, History, where he got held up at the front by the teacher. I took that opportunity to glance at him, and boy was I right. Long lashes framing smoldering eyes, sharp nose and sharp mouth, defined jawline, the whole package. I also caught a whiff of something sweet, like vanilla, as I walked past. Interesting. 

I sat down at my usual seat at the back of the class and took out my books and pens as fast as I could. Then I spent the next five minutes ogling the his side view. 

 The teacher finally released him when the bell rang. He turned to the class with an expressionless but extremely handsome face. Butterflies ravaged my stomach, and heat rushed to my cheeks. I had to cover them with my hands, careful to make it seem like I was just resting my head. 

"Class, this is Arturo." 

Whispers broke out among the students like the buzzing of flies.The transfer student mumbled something to the teacher, his stone cold expression melting into something troubled for a second before returning to boyish boredom. 

"Apology class and to you too, Art. This is Art, everyone." 

Art's face remained stony. 

"He got held back a year and a half due to personal matters. So be nice to him." 

As soon as the teacher mentioned being held back, the class burst into laughter. This time, Art's jaw tightened and he looked down. 

I felt bad for him. Being ratted out by your own teacher on your very first day is a fate I would only reserve for my worst enemies. Still, hearing that he was held back made the good student in me hesitant. 

"You can take a seat over there, Art." The teacher pointed to a seat right in front of me. 

The butterflies returned, becoming more frenzy the closer he was to me. He stopped right in front of me, his eyes skirting over my hopefully neutral expression before he turned back and dropped himself on the chair with a clang. 

Distantly, I remembered one of my aunties telling me I had beautiful collar bones. Subconsciously, I adjusted my unbuttoned collar. 

Art couldn't see them though. He had his back to me, his body soon hunched over as he took out his notebook and pen from his leather sling bag. Leather jacket, leather boots and leather bag, this guy really liked being the coolest person in the room huh. 

<3<3<3

When it was time for roll call, I was unsurprised to hear his full name. Art Orsini. Arturo Orsini. It rolled off the tongue smoothly and was as beautiful as he was. 

For some reason, Art went rigid after the teacher called his name. He hunched down, as if to make himself smaller to hide from all the attention. I was surprised and a little bit intrigued. From how he walked and stood, one would think he was a very confident guy.  

But then, I suppose it wasn't very nice being the center of negative attention. I myself have never been in such a spot because I always kept to myself, but I remembered when my best friend, Aileen, puked at her crush's birthday party and all eyes were on us. It had felt like instead of eyes, there were giant needles pointing at us.

Anyway, true to his appearance, Art's voice was low and a little husky. As he answered the teacher, it sent a shiver up my spine. I wanted to hear it again and again. Sadly, Art kept to himself for the rest of class.